X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Southall rail crash


Southall rail crash

The crash occurred after the 10:32 Great Western Trains passenger train from Swansea to London Paddington, worked by power cars 43173 + 43163 and operating with a defective Automatic Warning System (AWS), passed a red (danger) signal (SPAD), preceded by two cautionary signals, and collided with a freight train entering Southall goods yard shortly before 13:20 local time.

Power car 43173 was written off and scrapped at Pig's Bay, having sustained heavy damage during the accident.


The Permanent Way

Incidents covered in the play include the passing of the Railways Act 1993 setting out the structure of rail privatization and the survival and bereavement stories resulting from the rail crashes of Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, and Potters Bar.


see also